The Storm Lake Times - Tom Husemanhttp://www.stormlake.com/tags/tom-huseman
enAfter the primarieshttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/06/06/after-primaries
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Congratulations go to Tom Huseman, the Republican nominee for Buena Vista County Supervisor who seeks to fill the seat left with the retirement of Supervisor Ken Hach, R-Alta. Huseman, who recently retired as Alta city clerk, beat opponents Phil Driver and Stevan Quirk handily in the Tuesday GOP primary by garnering 58% of the vote. He was the best known of the candidates around the county, promoted his campaign the most and had the most experience with local government by virtue of his decades in public service.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">No Democrat has come forward to run. The Democrats could hold a special nominating convention to nominate a candidate to oppose Huseman on the November ballot. The chances of that are slim to none.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">It would appear, then, that Huseman is the supervisor-elect.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">He told us at the start of the campaign that he hoped to be a supervisor who would look out for the interests of Storm Lake and, of course, Alta. He pledged to be accessible and to listen. As such, he garnered much support.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Joni Ernst, best known for castrating pigs and shooting guns, easily won the Republican nomination for US Senate although she was outspent by opponent Mark Jacobs. We shudder to think a person so crass and so disingenuous could be taken seriously by voters. Disingenuous in that Ernst claimed she was on Iowa National Guard duty while missing a hundred or so votes in the Iowa Senate; turns out, she was not on Guard duty during her legislative absence but was campaigning or raising money for her campaign. She has a problem with the truth, which is a far bigger issue than running on her qualifications to emasculate a boar.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">“An examination of Ernst’s senate record shows that she has never offered an amendment that would cut spending in her time in the Iowa Senate. Perhaps that’s why Ernst uses her experience on the farm castrating pigs to tout her pork cutting in her campaign ad and not her record in the Iowa Senate. In fact, instead of cutting pork in the Iowa Senate, Ernst has a record of sponsoring amendments that actually increase spending,” The Iowa Republican website opined on May 15.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Ernst is pitted against US Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, who needs to step up his game if he intends to carry on for the retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who has been a champion for progressive causes. Braley needs to get west of Interstate 35 and take on Ernst in her own territory if he wants to open a lead over her. She proved she can beat money with organization and shoe leather by thumbing Jacobs. She brought in Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio, among others, to seal the victory. Money will be showered on her. Braley should have President Obama, Vice President Biden, Harkin — especially Harkin, the only state politician with the electoral acumen of Terry Branstad — and every other prominent Democrat he can think of patrolling every corner of the state in search of every vote. <span class="pullquote">This is one of the nationally targeted races, and it will be tight. Braley has visited Storm Lake once, in our memory. That’s not good enough to beat Ernst.</span> Already she will have more name recognition in Sioux City and Fort Dodge than Braley will. He has a lot of work to do. So much that he should worry.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">If the Democrats had their wits about them, they would mount an all-out effort to evict Steve King from Congress. No amount of money should be too much. There cannot be enough print, radio and TV ads to urge voters to support a reasonable man, Democrat Jim Mowrer of Boone, in his quixotic bid to unseat the five-term radical right-winger who makes Ted Cruz look like a softie. The party needs to mount an unprecedented effort to organize Latino voters in Storm Lake, Denison, Sioux City and Fort Dodge to offset a large Republican voter majority in the Fourth Congressional District and show King the power of the people he dismisses as so much chattel.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Mowrer has done extremely well in fundraising. He should have proven by now to the congressional overseers that he is a viable candidate against King. We have yet to hear that Organizing for America, Barack Obama’s volunteer juggernaut, has set up shop in the Fourth District to see this thing through.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">We simply cannot have a congressman with such contempt for Latinos and other immigrants whose only dream is for a better life.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Obama has fairly come under criticism by immigration advocates for deporting a record number of undocumented aliens. He could make up for it by eliminating the main impediment to common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform: Steve King.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Jim Mowrer is an Iraq war veteran and a former analyst in the Pentagon. He is a soft-spoken gentleman, and we certainly have not heard enough from him. Mowrer has a huge mountain to climb in unseating an incumbent with a committed national audience. He will need all the help he can get. For now, we’re just not seeing it materialize. Shame on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee if they lose this one again.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/ArtSignature.png" style="width: 213px; height: 64px;" /></span></span></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/art-cullen">Art Cullen</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/editorial">Editorial</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/tom-huseman">Tom Huseman</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/gop-primary">GOP primary</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/joni-ernst">Joni Ernst</a></div></div></div>Fri, 06 Jun 2014 13:46:46 +0000clare@stormlake.com4258 at http://www.stormlake.comHuseman rolls to supervisor winhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/06/06/huseman-rolls-supervisor-win
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/articles/2014/06/06/huseman-rolls-supervisor-win"><img src="http://www.stormlake.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/field/image/huseman%2C%20tom%20copy.jpg" width="144" height="220" alt="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Takes 58% of vote in 3-way GOP race</span></strong></em></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">BV Republicans pick Ernst for US Senate campaign</span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">By JOEY AGUIRRE</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Tom Huseman of Alta received 58.12% of the votes Tuesday in the Republican primary election for Buena Vista County Supervisor.</span></p><div class="premium-message"><p>Full text available to subscribers only. If you are currently an online subscriber, you can login <a href="/user">here</a>. To subscribe, please follow <a href="/content/subscribe">this link</a>.</p>
</div></div></div></div>Fri, 06 Jun 2014 13:46:12 +0000admin4257 at http://www.stormlake.comThree-way GOP primary likely to tab BV supervisorhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/05/30/three-way-gop-primary-likely-tab-bv-supervisor
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Driver, Quirk, Huseman vie to replace Hach</span></strong></em></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">No Democrat running</span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">By JOEY AGUIRRE</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Voters will be out on June 3 for the Republican Primary to decide which candidate will replace Ken Hach as Buena Vista County Supervisor.</span></p><div class="premium-message"><p>Full text available to subscribers only. If you are currently an online subscriber, you can login <a href="/user">here</a>. To subscribe, please follow <a href="/content/subscribe">this link</a>.</p>
</div></div></div></div>Fri, 30 May 2014 13:32:05 +0000admin4152 at http://www.stormlake.comA race for supervisorhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/03/06/race-supervisor
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A three-way Republican primary race is shaping up for the Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors seat being vacated this year by Supervisor Ken Hach, R-Alta. The winner of the contest among Steve Quirk, Phil Driver and Tom Huseman probably will determine who succeeds Hach, since no Democrat has jumped in or is likely to. <span class="pullquote">The early betting has to go with Huseman, who recently retired after 30 years as Alta City Clerk, a position appointed by the city council.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Huseman obviously understands local politics to stay in the job that long. He was the chief budget architect under the direction of the council. He is a graduate of Alta High School and Buena Vista College, where he made his name as a star basketball player. He knows most of the people in the courthouse, locals in the statehouse and what plays in Nokomis Township.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">That’s a tough resumé to beat.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Just after we published our Wednesday edition we received a press release from the Iowa Rural Water Association naming Huseman the Iowa City Clerk of the Year.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">This might be the only contested office on the local ballot. There appears to be no other contested supervisor seat, one candidate for sheriff to replace Gary Launderville, and nobody challenging any other incumbent county official.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Huseman said he was encouraged by people in Storm Lake to run. We have lamented how the city-county relationship is not as good as it should be. He understands the special challenges that cities face, and has been able as the chief operating officer of Alta to get things operating smoothly with the county.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">The other candidates will have to better him in organization and on the issues to mount a winning campaign. That will be a tall task given Huseman’s history and button-down demeanor.</span></span></p>
<hr /><p><span style="font-size:16px;"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Time for downsizing</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">The Iowa Lakes Corridor of Opportunity, the multi-county economic development agency that includes Buena Vista County, is searching for a new executive director. CEO Kathy Evert recently announced her resignation. This is an opportune time to take stock in what the corridor operation does, and how it might do it better.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">State authorities essentially ordered that economic development efforts must be organized regionally. BV County had a forced marriage with Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. Local government funds were diverted from Storm Lake United (the local retail and industrial development organization) to the Iowa Lakes outfit. Of course, the center of it all is Spencer. It often strikes us that Storm Lake is a forgotten stepchild. That’s what happens with regional government.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Most new jobs in Storm Lake are created by local enterprises trying to grow or by major institutions (education, health care and food processing) growing organically. State efforts have little to do with adding a dozen jobs on the line at Tyson or recruiting more students to Buena Vista University. Storm Lake United does most of the work necessary to keep local employers happy. We really don’t need another layer of government to keep the turkey fillets rolling or the local carpenter hammering.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">But we have it. So we should make the best of it.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">The Corridor has conducted all sorts of entrepreneurship training, student business exploration, seminars on this and that, almost none of it in Buena Vista County. We’re not sure what the aggregate result is. As founders of our own business, we believe that entrepreneurship is something you carry in your gut. It is not something you pick up over lunch. Our money would be far better spent helping people learn English and civics.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">What should the Corridor do?</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Simply take contacts from prospective employers and forward those contacts to the town chamber of commerce or mayor. Gary Lalone at Storm Lake United knows a lot more about what works in Storm Lake than someone in Spencer does. We would suppose that Spencer Municipal Utilities would be far more helpful to an industrial client than someone with a dossier of talking points.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">The Corridor could save a lot of money by downsizing and devolving control to the member county seats. It should be a clearinghouse for local contacts. It does not need to be a professional networking service.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Most of all, the board should consider whether the Corridor is serving Estherville and Storm Lake as well as it is Spencer and Spirit Lake. Of course it is not. We could be blamed for indifference, but when Storm Lake is mainly an afterthought it is hard to open up the wallet for something 38 miles away.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">If we cannot dissolve the Corridor, at least we could cut it down to size.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Regional government is inefficient and largely unaccountable. Regional economic development is superfluous.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/ArtSignature.png" style="width: 213px; height: 64px;" /></span></span></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/editorial">Editorial</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/art-cullen">Art Cullen</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/bv-county-board-supervisors">BV County Board of Supervisors</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/tom-huseman">Tom Huseman</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/iowa-lakes-corridor-opportunity">Iowa Lakes Corridor of Opportunity</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/storm-lake-united">Storm Lake United</a></div></div></div>Thu, 06 Mar 2014 20:55:50 +0000clare@stormlake.com3153 at http://www.stormlake.comIowa Rural Water tabs Huseman as clerk of the yearhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/03/06/iowa-rural-water-tabs-huseman-clerk-year
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">The Iowa Rural Water Association is pleased to announce that Tom Huseman with the City of Alta has been named the 2013 City Clerk of the Year. Huseman was presented with the award during the Iowa Rural Water Association’s 39th Annual Conference at Veteran’s Memorial Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center Feb. 24-26 in Des Moines. </span></p><div class="premium-message"><p>Full text available to subscribers only. If you are currently an online subscriber, you can login <a href="/user">here</a>. To subscribe, please follow <a href="/content/subscribe">this link</a>.</p>
</div></div></div></div>Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:35:10 +0000admin3147 at http://www.stormlake.comHuseman in 3-way GOP race for BV supervisorhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2014/03/04/huseman-3-way-gop-race-bv-supervisor
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/articles/2014/03/04/huseman-3-way-gop-race-bv-supervisor"><img src="http://www.stormlake.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/field/image/huseman%2C%20tom.jpg" width="144" height="220" alt="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Retired Alta city clerk seeks to fill Hach’s position</span></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">By JOEY AGUIRRE</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Former Alta City Clerk Tom Huseman has announced that he will run as a Republican for the open seat on the Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors.</span></p><div class="premium-message"><p>Full text available to subscribers only. If you are currently an online subscriber, you can login <a href="/user">here</a>. To subscribe, please follow <a href="/content/subscribe">this link</a>.</p>
</div></div></div></div>Tue, 04 Mar 2014 19:38:42 +0000admin3101 at http://www.stormlake.comHuseman retiring from Alta clerk jobhttp://www.stormlake.com/articles/2013/10/02/huseman-retiring-alta-clerk-job
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><em><strong><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">Council mulls replacement</span></span></strong></em></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Tom Huseman will retire as Alta City Clerk in February or March after 29 years of service.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">A special city council meeting was held on Monday to conduct interviews for the city clerk position. Applications were reviewed and discussed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">A second interview session was scheduled for Oct. 25.</span></p><div class="premium-message"><p>Full text available to subscribers only. If you are currently an online subscriber, you can login <a href="/user">here</a>. To subscribe, please follow <a href="/content/subscribe">this link</a>.</p>
</div></div></div></div>Wed, 02 Oct 2013 14:10:31 +0000admin1128 at http://www.stormlake.com